Law&Crime Sidebar - Top 5 Times Judges Blasted Defendants in Court

Episode Date: December 28, 2023

Most judges are calm, cool and collected in the courtroom. But whether it’s during trial or the sentencing phase, some judges let their true feelings about criminal defendants be known. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down the top five times judges blasted defendants.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller

that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. This is the worst case I have ever seen as far as the facts go. Then we'll bring this fool in. So I'm warning you, do not interrupt again. And it is the most shocking thing, really, I can imagine, is that a mother killed her own children, and you simply have no remorse for it. From a judge getting into screaming matches with a combative defendant to another ripping into a murderer for what he's done, to one judge embarrassing a man on a Zoom call in unforgettable fashion, we break down five times judges berated criminal defendants. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

During trials, judges are usually some of the most composed people in the courtroom. They act as a referee, decision maker, interpreter of the law and rules. They're supposed to keep their emotions out of it. They're supposed to keep their opinions out of it. They try to keep a sense of decorum in the courtroom, right? Sometimes judges have also been known to lose their cool or to make their true feelings known to the defendant. That becomes very, very clear. and that is why we are going to go back and take a closer look at five times

judges just absolutely berated defendants in court. We're going to start this off in Riverview, Florida. In 2018, Ronnie O'Neill III was arrested for a brutal crime. He beat and then shot to death his girlfriend, 33-year-old Kenyatta Barron, hacked their nine-year-old special needs daughter to death with a hatchet. Her name was Renivia. He also stabbed their eight-year-old. old son Ronnie O'Neill the fourth and set their home on fire.

Now, the young boy, he wasn't expected to survive, but miraculously, he managed to recover. One of the investigators actually ended up adopting him. How amazing is that? Now, when this man went to trial in June of 2021, Mr. O'Neill decided he wanted to act as his own attorney with standby counsel. And throughout the trial, O'Neill had some interesting and loud tactics. is going to show that we are under some of the most visions. fabricating

fictitious government you ever seen the evidence is going to show my son said many things that are not true I always feel when I watched that that he was doing an impression of an attorney I could be wrong

but like it seemed like something he saw once and said I'm going to emulate that. That's how an attorney acts. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, O'Neill claimed that law enforcement enforcement fabricated evidence by manipulating recorded 911 phone calls to make it sound like he was beating his ex-girlfriend. He also accused police of removing evidence as well, saying his own call to 911 was deleted from the logs.

You got to get this. The defendant turned his own attorney. He even cross-examined his own son. The one I just mentioned, the one he was accused of stabbing, the only surviving victim of that awful incident. The boy was 11 when that trial took place. And while he wasn't shown on camera, we can hear his voice. And it's just unimaginable.

Did I hurt you that night of this incident? Yes. I did. And how did I hurt you? You stop me. Do you remember telling the detectives? After he asked, did your dad hurt you the night that he hurt your sister? And you said, no, he didn't hurt me.

Do you remember that? No. You stabbed me, saying this to his father. When it came time for closing arguments, O'Neill once again shouted his remarks at the jury. Now, Judge Michelle Sisko allowed O'Neill to kind of get away with this, but also kind of tempered it a little bit. If you think I'm here to put around with y'all, you got on that.

All right, Mr. O'Neill, please stop using swearing language. It's not appropriate in a closing argument. By the way, O'Neill actually ended up admitting that he killed Kenyatta Barron but says it didn't happen like the state says it did. He seemed to allude that he attacked her to defend the kids. Well, the jury found Ronnie O'Neill the third guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse, one count of arson, and one count of resisting a law enforcement officer.

Two days later, O'Neill was sentenced, and that's when Judge Sisko really let O'Neill know what she thought of him in his actions. 19 years I've been at this job. I've seen human beings killed at the hands of others in every single. way imaginable. You name it, I've seen. This is the worst case I have ever seen as far as the facts go. Little Ranibia, she couldn't scream, she couldn't run away, and she witnessed what you did to her mother for shooting her mother in the arm with the gunshot. She knew. And the horror that that child suffered. And she already had a life where she was born with challenges.

regarding her physical and her mental disabilities. But the pain and suffering that she suffered that night at your hands, unspeakable, absolutely unspeakable. And at the moment, that first time you struck her with that hatchet, and little Ronnie testified that all he could see was tears coming out of his sister's face. At that moment, that child knew she knew, She knew she was being betrayed in the cruelest, most tragic and sorrowful way that a child could ever be betrayed.

She was being betrayed by her parent, the one person that should be there to protect their children and love them and keep them from harm. And that put the last thing that child felt before she passed on from this earth was your utter cruel betrayal to her. Ranevia O'Neill is one of the bravest souls I have ever come across in my 54 years on this planet. On account one, Mr. O'Neill, I will adjudicate you guilty, sent it you to life in prison with a minimum mandatory of life in prison without the possibility of parole. That was powerful. In all, O'Neill was sentenced to three life sentences plus 90 years in prison, currently housed. at Liberty Correctional Institute in Florida. All right, we want to thank Morgan and Morgan for sponsoring this video.

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Pound Law, that's pound 529 on your phone. Well, we can't talk about judges getting quite irritated at defendants without talking about Wisconsin versus Dorel Brooks Jr. Back on November 21st, 2021, Brooks drove his red SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesh, Wisconsin. He killed six people, wounded dozens of others. He ended up facing a whole list of charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. He went to trial in 2022, and his behavior. in court. It went viral several times because in the days before his case got underway,

he chose to go pro se, acting as his own attorney. So the trial starts, and it became clear pretty early on that Brooks was in over his head. I did bring these boxes up. I have not had the time to go through everything in there. As you can see, it's a lot. that and that's putting in minimal a lot so i have not had the time to go through everything that's in there i'm i'm i'm winging it your honor winging it winging it day three of the trial there was a cordial moment between brooks and judge jennifer darrow when brooks actually apologized for any of his antics i would like to issue the the court an apology for me um regards to my actions last week during the trial, I just want the court to understand

it's very emotional. I should carry myself with a better respect than that. I wasn't raised that way. Understandably so. This is an emotional experience, I think, for everyone involved. And I appreciate that you, upon reflection, have realized that courtesy and decorum are an important part of a court proceeding. But that didn't last long. Remember when I said his antics? Well, despite Brooks's apology and maybe his commitment to keep things courteous, it was really anything close to that because it seemed his lack of understanding of courtroom

procedure and the law came up time and time again and just disrupted everything. You should be properly addressed before the jury even comes out. That's why I tried to properly address it before we even went on the record. Mr. Brooks, stop. I'm not going to, this is, you are not being respectful to this proceeding or to this jury. No, it's not with all due respect stating that doesn't make it respectful home. Mr. Brooks, stop talking until the jury is out. Brooks often argued that the jury wasn't being given all of the information they needed to make a decision,

but the judge wasn't having it. That's not fair to the jury. They have a right to hear everything. Nothing to say hearing that you fix the trial because you don't want to tell the truth to the jury. Mr. Brooks, please stop. No, there ain't no, please, nothing. You are being disruptive. You are being disrespectful.

You're always going to find some reason to say somebody's being disruptive because they want the truth to be out there. Man, quit it. You're supposed to be the judge. Mr. Brooks, I'm advising you that continued interruptions will result in you forfeiting your right to be present in this. Under what law, in fact, can you do that? Illinois versus Allen. Okay, what, the fourth option that you made up that's not even in the law? Because you can't do that.

I need to make a complaint. I need to make a complaint. You know you can't. All right. I'm going to excuse everyone. Mr. Brooks is being removed from the courtroom. He will continue in the neighboring courtroom. Maybe not surprisingly, Judge Garrow removed Brooks to a separate courtroom several times

during the course of the trial so he couldn't interrupt court proceedings, but he could still monitor what was going on. I'm muted. No. The jury should know that they can nullify. You are muted now. And every day seemed to bring some sort of new absurdity. There were times Brooks removed his shirt.

He also built a fort out of evidence boxes. He waved his arms so he could be seen on camera, but refused to wear the headphones so he could hear what was actually going on. And when he was allowed back in the courtroom, he continued to disrespectfully challenge Judge Darrow. All right, the jury's coming back out, and I'm going to warn you, if you bring this up again, I will pause and I will remove you to the next courtroom for being disrespectful, for being interruptive, for being disruptive, and for bringing up irrelevant matters in front of this jury. You will forfeit your right to be present for the direct examination of this witness. object to that, Your Honor. Did you hear what I said, sir? No, I did not. I object to that, Your Honor. Well, you can object, and your objection is noted, but if you interrupt, when this jury comes out, they will go, I will, I will have them taken out again, and you will be removed to the next courtroom.

You can't, what is the legal basis for that ruling, Your Honor? Illinois versus Allen, sir, and all of the other cases that I've cited previously, I'll make the appropriate record. Stop interrupting me. The jury's coming out. We're continuing with this trial, despite your repeated efforts to disrupt. Yesterday, sit down. Yesterday alone, sir, 17 interruptions, not including the opportunity that I gave you where you spent 50 minutes, discussing what were primarily either irrelevant or baseless accusations and requests not based in law or fact. I was abundantly patient with you yesterday.

And you still have to verify by proof any of what I say. And none of that is required, sir. Because it is. You can't verify. Your belief that that's the law doesn't make it so, Mr. Brooks. Despite his efforts to defend himself, Daryl Brooks was convicted on all 76 charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. The jury deliberated for only a few hours before reaching that decision.

And then on November 16th, we had his sentencing where Judge Darrow sentenced Brooks to six life sentences plus 700 years, and her words for him? Oh, boy. You know, in addition, and before I get to that, I've also had over my 11 years on the bench of coming face-to-face with evil on occasion. There are many times, many times good people do bad things, but there are times when evil people do bad things. There is no medication. or treatment for a heart that is bent on evil. Child trauma, bipolar, indifference, physical abuse of a child, or even childhood trauma did not cause Daryl Brooks to commit the acts for which he will be sentenced here today.

It is very clear to this court that he understands the difference between right and wrong and that he simply chooses to ignore his conscience. He is fueled by anger and rage. Some people unfortunately choose a path of evil, and I think Mr. Brooks, you are one of those such persons. As a mom, my heart breaks for your family, for your mom, and for your grandmother. The son that she raised, the grandson that your grandmother,

they're new, the hopes and dreams they had for your life, they're gone. And I think it's perhaps far easier for them to blame a mental illness than to perhaps come to grips with their son did very, very bad things due to very bad motivations. Here's one more footnote. Despite already being sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars, Brooks' legal trouble in and there because in July of 23, he ended up pleading guilty to one count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon after

he allegedly shot at his nephew and nephew's friend in 2020. All right. Next up, it is May 11th, 2021, around 8 a.m. And a virtual hearing was set up with Judge Jeffrey Middleton out in District Court in Centerville, Michigan. And this is over Zoom.

Remember, the pandemic, had a lot of virtual hearings at that time. Well, they'll do. And that is when, defendant, Nathaniel Saxton, logs on to the hearing. Now, the records indicate from court that he was there for an arraignment on a charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. But things go very, very wrong, very, very quickly. Basically, from the first moment, he appears on screen because of his Zoom name.

Good morning, sir. What's your name? Me? Yeah, you. Yes. Nathaniel Saxon, sir. Your name's not but-3,000, you yo-ho. Logging into my court with that is your screen name.

What does that in a little bit? What kind of idiot logs into court like that? What's your name again? Nathaniel Saxton, sir, but I don't believe that I typed anything like that in. Well, that's what? says why I apologize that's just not

yeah you should I'll put you in the waiting room you can sit in limbo for a while and think about what you call yourself online oh yeah Nathaniel Saxton just logged into a public courtroom feed

with an incredibly vulgar screen name and could see on his face though he was absolutely dumbfounded by what the judge was saying so Judge Middleton booted him to the Zoom waiting room and when Saxton came back a few minutes later, he had sort of an explanation of what happened?

Your Honor? Yes. If I may explain, my sister was one that set up my Zoom account or whatever, that but ever is my iPhone pairing name for my Bluetooth speaker, sir. It's an inside joke. It's not what you think I'm, I'm, I'm embarrassed. I'm sorry.

Well, you should be. All right. We'll come back to you in a bit. Yikes. That is humiliating. Not going to lie. I'm uncomfortable watching it. And I don't know if that's really what happened or what the situation is. It's like a dream when you're naked in front of the whole class, right? Well, when the judge finally circled back to Saxton, the prosecutor told the judge that Saxton had been found with a syringe that tested positive for meth. Saxton pleaded guilty and he was told to pay a $200 fine. Judge Middleton also said Saxton was lucky he didn't smack him with a contempt of court

charge for his name. All right, so let's continue our conversation about judges berating criminal defendants, having very strong words for criminal defendants. Back in 2020, a man named Timothy Bliefnick appeared alongside some of his family members on an episode of Family Feud. When host Steve Harvey asked Bliefnick the biggest mistake he made at his wedding, His response was saying, I do. Well, that answer took on a much more chilling tone when you fast forward to 2023,

and Bliefnick went on trial for murdering his wife in Illinois. Police and prosecutors say Bliefnick and his wife, Becky, were going through a really contentious divorce when she was brutally killed in her Quincy home in February of 20203. Prosecutions, as Becky told friends, she was scared of what Blief Nick might do to her, particularly if she got custody of their three sons. On the night Becky was killed, Bliefnick had the boys at his home. Prosecutors claim he left them there so he could commit the crime. Becky was shot 14 times at close range.

She was found dead in her bathroom. The shooting happened just days before a hearing that could determine custody issues. Tim Bliefnick was arrested and he went on trial in May. And after a week of evidence that included some really damning internet searches like average Quincy Police Department response time and how to make a homemade silencer, jurors convicted him of first-degree murder, home invasion, and a firearms charge.

Now, Judge Robert K. Adrian had some choice words for Bliefnick during his sentencing in August. Mr. Bliefnick, you researched this murder, you planned this murder, you practice this murder, you broke into her,

house and you shot her one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen times i don't know how long it took you to do that some of those shots were fired while she was lying on the ground and you did all of that while your children were upstairs at your house lying snug in their beds the court believes that the appropriate sentence for each of the two counts of first degree murder would be natural life in prison

court believes that the third count of home invasion appropriate sentence is life in prison. Those three sentences will merge together into one life sentence. You heard it right there. Life in prison for Tim Blefnick. He's not eligible for parole.

He continues to maintain his innocence, though, even participating in an episode of 48 hours about the case. But for now, he's in the Menard Correctional Center, the largest maximum security prison for men in Illinois. All right, we're going to end in Idaho. where doomsday cult mom, Lori Vallow Daybell, was convicted of murdering her two children. Both Lori and her latest husband, Chad Daybell,

were charged in the deaths of 7-year-old J.J. Valo and 16-year-old Tyler Ryan. The children were last seen in September of 2019. Lori and Chad were also charged in connection with the death of Chad's wife Tammy in October of 2019. I'll tell you this is a very, very complicated case with a lot of players. I'll try to break it down real quick. It is believed that Chad and Lori met at a religious conference

in St. George, Utah. They shared similar apocalyptic beliefs, including that people could have good spirits or bad spirits. I'll give you an example. Lori had been married to a man named Charles Vallow, the adopted father of JJ, but they became estranged and he had filed divorce paperwork, claiming that Lori thought she was a goddess sent to Earth to usher in the end of days. Now, according to prosecutors, Lori was already in a relationship with Chad. They were both having affairs as he was still married to Tammy. By the way, in July of 2019, Lori Vello's brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles. Cox told the police that he shot Charles in self-defense.

He was never charged. He died that same year, apparently, from natural causes, blood clots. Very complicated case, as I said. But at the time, Lori and her kids lived in Arizona with Charles, but then Lori moved her family to eastern Idaho to be closer to Chad. And that is when prosecutors argued that Lori and Chad murdered the kids, and they also alleged that before his death, Alex Cox was the person who helped carry out the actual killings. Then in October of 2019, as I mentioned, Tammy Daybell died. Now, at first, it was just

put down as natural causes. There was no autopsy. When the investigation into Chad and Lori started to ramp up, her body was exhumed and it was eventually determined that she died from asphyxiation. By the way, just two weeks after Tammy died with the kids still missing, Chad and Lori jet off to Hawaii and get married on a beach. A lot of happy pictures there. Prosecutors would allege that they killed the kids and Tammy so that they get money and live happily ever after. Now, the kids were missing for months, but then in June of 2020, the remains of J.J. and Tiley were found on Chad Daybill's property. So Chad is arrested first, and Lori later on. Chad and Lori's trials were eventually severed. Chad waived his rights to a

speedy trial, so he hasn't faced a jury yet. Lori did go to trial. She went to trial in April of 23, and it lasted several weeks. Prior to trial, the judge granted a motion that cameras be banned from the courtroom, so the media was only given access to audio of what was going on in the courtroom. Then on May 12, 2023, Lori was convicted of conspiring to commit the murders of J.J. Vallow, Tiley, Tiley, Tiley, she was also convicted of grand theft and first-degree murder of J.J. and Tiley. Now, while cameras were banned for the trial itself, the judge did permit them during

Lori's sentencing hearing. That means we were able to hear what Lori herself had to say when the judge gave her an opportunity to address the court. Jesus knows me, and Jesus understands me. I mourn with all of you who mourn my children and Tammy. Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here. Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen. I have had many communications from people now living in heaven, including my children,

Tiley Ashland and Joshua Jackson, my sisters, Stacey and Lolly. my aunts and my uncles and my grandparents. I have had many communications with Jesus Christ, the Savior of this world, and our heavenly parents. I've had many angelic visitors have come and communicated with me and even manifested themselves to me. Because of these communications, I know for a fact that my children are happy and busy in the spirit world.

because of my communications with my friend Tammy Daybell, I know that she is also very happy and extremely busy. I have always mourned the loss of my loved ones, and I have lost many in this mortal world. However, I know more than most people. I know where they are now and what they're doing. I know how wonderful heaven is. is, and I'm homesick for it every single day. I know we all lived in heaven before we were born on

earth, and we were all adult spirits in the heavenly realm. We chose to come to earth as mortals. Heaven is more wonderful than you can possibly imagine. I do not fear death, but I look forward to it. My beautiful children, Tiley Ashland and Joshua Jackson, rest safely this day in the arms of Jesus. My wonderful friend Tammy Daybell rest safely this day in the arms of Jesus. And I look forward to the day when we are all reunited and I too will rest with them in the arms of my Jesus. Yeah, you kind of hear that weird justification almost, right? I will tell you, the judge wasn't buying what Lori was selling and really laid into her before he announced her sentence.

And it is the most shocking thing, really, I can imagine, is that a mother killed her own children and you simply have no remorse for it. Even sitting here today, there's no remorse for what you did. After all of this evidence through trial, you haven't shown. any remorse. You haven't said you're sorry. You haven't done anything to seek leniency from this court. There's been a lot of people during trial and here who explain the devastation you're responsible for and you've forever altered the lives not in a good way for many, many people destroying family relationships, taking people away that were loved.

cared for and needed. You may not believe to this day that you've done anything wrong and you still may think you're justified by your religious beliefs for what happened here. I'm not here to judge that, but I don't believe that any God in any religion would want to have this happened, what happened here. And your crimes are heinous and egregious. and that alone can constitute a major aggravating factor that requires me to impose a serious length of incarceration.

So after weighing all those factors, I need to an aggravation. I find that the sentences I'm about to impose will serve the interest of justice by, number one, preventing you from ever doing this again, that they will not depreciate the seriousness of your crimes, will punish you appropriately, and will serve to deter both. you and others.

Judge sentenced Lori Valo-Dabell to life in prison for each of the murder and conspiracy charges to be served consecutively. Chad Daybell's trial is scheduled to start April 1st, 2024. He's pleaded not guilty. For now, the judge has ruled he will allow Chad's trial to be live-streamed, and of course, we will be following it right here on Sidebar. And that's all we have for you, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us.

Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify. YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series. Add free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.